


broken promises

by MaddieandChimney



Series: The Buckley’s Begin [4]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26025016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: "This isn't what Buckley's do, Evan."Twenty-one year old Maddie knows her brother has been struggling since she moved out three years ago, but she has no idea how much.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley
Series: The Buckley’s Begin [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735762
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	broken promises

Maddie wraps her arms around herself as she steps out of the apartment building, glancing around for her little brother before her eyes finally settle on the bench across the street. There’s a momentary relief, followed by the immediate need to scream at him for scaring her, overridden only by the desire to hold him and make sure he’s okay. It takes her seconds to cut across the road to practically throw herself onto his lap as her arms wrap around his shoulders and she lets out a sob of relief.

It’s only when she trusts herself not to slap him that she pulls back just enough to look into those baby blue eyes that are so different to her own, hands clasping either side of his face as she takes a breath. “What the hell were you thinking? You’re fourteen years old, Evan! We were—god, the police are looking for you, we-I thought… why didn’t you call me? You promised me you’d always call.”

His eyes glance towards the building behind her, the unspoken words between them that she’ll later wish she could have seen as a red flag that maybe Doug wasn’t meant to be. Instead, she just sadly nods her head and presses her lips to his forehead, taking a deep breath, “I’m going to have to call mom and dad, you know that, right? You can’t just run away from home, you’re still a child.”

“It’s not a home without you.” The desperate eyes of her brother finally meet hers again as she sniffs and nods her head. She knows he’s struggled since she moved out three years ago, feeling as though she had abandoned him to go to college. If she could have taken him with her, she would have but college was hard enough without an eleven year old and their parents would never loosen their grip on him, not when they felt as though they had lost her.

“Tell me how to make it better.” Maddie finally whispers, as though she doesn’t already know what her brother is going to say, as though he hasn’t already said it a hundred times before since she announced she was moving out at eighteen. She doesn’t know why she says it, it’s not as though she can say goodbye to the life she’s made with Doug and move back to her parents house, she couldn’t take ten steps back so her brother could move a few steps forward.

Her thumbs brush at the tears that have made their way down his face and his hands clasp around the back of her coat as he shakes her head, “You know how to make it better but you can’t—because then you’d be miserable and if you’re miserable then…” He shrugs, before he frowns, “You stopped answering my calls, I’m not allowed in your apartment, you missed family meals… you promised I could take you for breakfast at our favourite place for your birthday but you never showed up. I showed up, Maddie.”

Maddie’s heart breaks at the confusion in her brother’s voice, knowing that at fourteen, she was all the family he had. Their parents weren’t bad people, they were just absent, too busy to be parents until either he or Maddie did something they disapproved of. Maddie had already let them down with the announcement she wanted to be a nurse (why not aim higher, Maddie? Why not use the education we’ve been paying for?), and they had been coming down even harder on Evan since to follow in his parent’s footsteps. She had Doug now, she had a new family but it was no excuse to let Evan feel as though she had abandoned him, not when she had made so many promises.

She takes a breath, remembering how she had been ready to leave to go see her brother on the morning of her birthday, just as they had planned, but Doug had forgotten that she’d already made plans with someone else (he was busy, tired, of course he had forgotten although she had mentioned it the day before). He had brought her breakfast in bed and she had gotten lost in his lips against hers, in the gentle touch of his hands and his smile.

With a nod of her head, she stands up from her lap and reaches her hand for his, “I know how to make it better.” Once he stands, she lifts her other hand, her little finger up as she grins at him and he rolls his eyes, “Oh, are we too old to make pinky promises with your big sister now?” Despite the smirk on his lips, he links his finger with hers and shakes his head, “I promise I’ll never leave you behind, Evan. I’ll try harder, I’ll do better.” She can remember making the same promise to her boyfriend when she had forgotten their anniversary a few weeks ago, tilting her head up to look at her little brother who already towers over her at fourteen.

“I love you, Mads.”

“I love you more. Now, why don’t we go get that breakfast before I call mom and dad because you’re going to be grounded for at least the next year.”

The teenager scrunches his nose up and she knows he’s nervous for the fallout, “I’ll be there when they scream at you, I promise.” Her hand easily slides into his as she pulls him in the direction of the nearest diner, giggling with a smirk on her face, “This isn’t what Buckley’s do, Evan.” She mocks her parents, the two of them having heard the sentence accompanied by a disappointed look more than a handful of times.

With a raised brow, her brother lets go of her hand to shove her gently before he looks her up and down with a scoff, gesturing to her pyjamas, covered only by her coat, “This isn’t what Buckley’s do, Madeline.”

Their laughter echoes around the empty street before she links her arm with his and shakes her head, “I’m glad you still came to me.”

“Always, Maddie, always.” 


End file.
